2009 Camry SE

**akride** · 08-05-2009, 11:58 PM

Hi All!

I just recently picked up a 2009 Camry SE and love the ride. I opted not to get the nav unit as I figured I could either buy or make one that will probably be cheaper and that is better and more fun. I've spent quite a few days looking at a bunch of head units and all the ones on the market are nice and plug-and-play but always feel lacking. As a result, I've gone back to the idea of building a car-puter. Anyway, on to the more fun stuff!

- akride -

Quick background: I've built computers but never tried a car-puter
Goal: Have a car-puter that looks good but is useful/fun and easy to fiddle with
Timeline: Depends but not rushing anything
Budget: Fluid

Main Features - Primary Goals

Clean, OEM-look, in-dash, easy to upgrade parts
Navigation
Video/DVD/Audio/Satellite
Bluetooth Telephone

Main Features - Secondary Goals/Wishlist

Car Info - OBDII, TPMS
Internet - Wi-fi, Piggyback 3G from cell phone
Reverse Camera
Remote Control

Hardware

Dash Kit - Metra Kit (purchased)
Double DIN Chassis - ByByte Double Din Mini-ITX Enclosure (www.bybyte.com/BBX-1_content.htm) (purchased)
Screen - Touchscreen, 7"
Motherboard
Power Supply
Processor
RAM
Hard Drive
DVD Drive
Antennas - GPS, HD, DTV

Aug 6, 2009 - I'm a n00b to the car-puter area so I've been spending my time running through these forums and the net to get a general gist of what I need. The main problem I'm having right now is trying to find a chassis. I don't have much fabrication experience nor do I know someone who can do it for me. My ideal chassis...

...looks like those aftermarket chassis with a tilting screen. Ideally, I'd also like a chassis with the ability to change out the screen as needed (e.g., for future screens). The best example is the new Kenwood DNX9140, which has a reverse tilt as well.

I went to a few sites (e.g., www.bybyte.com, www.kustompcs.co.uk, JKM InFill) but still haven't found something that fits. I haven't found anything yet.

Anyone have an idea?

Oct 31, 2011 - Yes, a turtle moves faster than the progress of this project but it's moving.

I just received the ByByte Double Din Mini-ITX enclosure over the weekend. It looks awesome! I am going to do a physical check to ensure that the chassis fits nicely. Otherwise, my next steps are to look into getting a motherboard and screen combo that I'd like to use. So far, because of the chassis, I'm thinking of staying with a capacitive Lilliput EBY701. Oh, and the Metra kit that I picked up has a "shelf" that I'm going to have to cut off.

**rdholtz** · 08-06-2009, 03:13 AM

It depends on how much fabrication you're willing to do, or how much you're willing to buy. The slickest in-dash units I've seen are from blk02si, whose work was the basis for what I (over)built for my installation. He provides chassis or complete systems. His worklog for his own installation is here, his previous installation is here, and his website is here. He answers questions freely and appears to provide fine support. He does custom CNC machining work, as well.

As for the tilting, I'm just working that out for my screen; I'm using a Lilliput 889GL, case and all. I've come up only with ideas so far -- no sketches, no prototype. Try searching MP3Car for it; I'll be interested in what you find, because I'm about to go and do the same thing, myself. I may end up designing something, but that would be a while down the road.

I'd recommend taking your dash apart and carefully measuring space available not just for the unit, but for the cables that attach to it; although I thought I'd left enough cable space, my system is pretty tight back there -- functional, but tight.

Take pictures from all sorts of angles and make good, clear sketches with dimensions. They'll be very valuable as you go along.

Welcome aboard, and best of luck with your installation. We'll be watching . . .

**akride** · 08-06-2009, 07:45 AM

Thanks a bunch for the info rdholtz. Just took a look at blk02si's work and it's very impressive! I'm actually quite interested in learning how to do fabrication myself but the main current limiting factors are experience and equipment.

I've only hit the tip of the iceberg in the fabrication section but I didn't see any chassis that would match what I was looking for.

Here is one promising thread that I saw:
General Hardware Discussion > Interest in a dual din chassis with touch screen
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/gene...ch-screen.html

There was another thread that I ran across that had similar plans but it seems like that one fizzled out:
User Innovations > Production Double-Din VGA Touchscreen in the making!
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/user...en-making.html

That's definitely on my to-do list to poke around the dash but I'm not terribly worried about space as I've looked at other people's disassembly of the dash and it looks like there's plenty of room back there.

**MeeM** · 06-08-2010, 08:44 PM

Hey akride, how's your car PC going? Any progress?

**akride** · 06-08-2010, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by MeeM

Hey akride, how's your car PC going? Any progress?

Thanks for the follow-up. Unfortunately, it's been really busy and budget has been tight for a while so I've had to put the project on hold but I do have a good idea of what I'm aiming to put in:

I've already picked up the dash kit so that was a simple step. As far as the enclosure, ByByte has put together a nice double-din enclosure that should fit nicely. It lacks the motorized screen I'd like but that's a small sacrifice. So, I'm going to get that enclosure as my starting block and play with it. It's looks like a pretty good deal, esp since it'll have a nice clean enclosure already built and I'd have to do minimal fabricating. The chassis alone is $58 but if you want to use their pre-built package with screen, it's currently priced at $269.

**MeeM** · 06-09-2010, 08:57 AM

Ahh k. Yeah ByByte has a good range of dash kits. I probably should've bought my fascia from them because it has an inner frame which covers the gaps on the sides of the LCD. If you see my fascia (bought directly from Toyota), it hasn't got the inner frame and those side gaps are annoying me. I'm going to get some acrylic and fabricate my own inner frame. Fun times ahead

Have you decided on any other parts yet?